Okay, so where to start with this one? “How much is SEO Worth?” is a bit of a loaded question, but in blog form we’re able to answer it as though it was asked correctly. Which is to say that it’s asked for an honest and expert answer rather than a good price. Although we’d definitely recommend you read our previous blog(link to the previous blog) entitled “Do SEO Services Work?” for a bit of deeper context first.

There are obviously two ways that this can be taken: 1. “How much should I pay for SEO?” & 2. “What value can SEO offer my business?”

For starters it’s probably best to get the more loaded of the two out of the way. When it comes to what you should pay for SEO we would in a (very) general sense say that you should not be paying below $1000 +GST per month for anything serious and you should only be paying more than $3000 per month if you’re an e-commerce or high end corporate or government entity. Anything less than what we just outlined and you likely have some underhanded tactics being used by your provider in order to be able to execute the project for that price. Good work isn’t cheap. However while that all sounds nice and simple, it only works if you’re a “package” minded kind of agency and/or client.

Here at Hydra we take a more modular approach to Search Engine Optimisation, charging for each an individual task so that it can all happen in a manner that’s more manageable for you both time wise and money wise. That makes it a bit harder to answer the question, but we can definitely say that in the first month, that same price range should apply given that more work tends to be done in that month, with varying prices for subsequent months depending on which tasks are set and the budget that you have. However in general, to do the project right, the pricing wouldn’t be fluctuating too wildly around the first month’s price until at least month 4 as we begin to look at the more repetitive monthly tasks that are required as opposed to the usually quite unique and tailored work that needs to be done for your site to prime it for success.

But on to the next version of the question: “How much is SEO worth to my business?”

For this one, we obviously can’t offer a dollar figure. All businesses are different and we service so many wildly different industries that it’s beyond impossible for us to even offer an average figure. When you’re given ye olde “How long is a piece of string?” answer to this question, it’s actually a pretty fair response. However we do understand that it can be frustrating as a business to have to operate under such uncertainty, so let’s at least talk about the ways in which Search Engine Optimisation can contribute to your bottom line.

The clicks are free

It can be a long slog to the front page when you’re earning your position rather than paying for it, but once you’re there, no longer have to pay for that traffic, which allows you to either refocus your paid traffic budget (meaning Google Ads) on other terms you don’t yet rank for organically, or if need be, reduce your paid budget. Either way, the value there is clear.

It’s a heavy hitter

When it comes down to it, organic traffic is still the hardest hitting in terms of the levels of traffic that it can bring in. Obviously with a very well managed campaign, paid traffic can certainly outdo it in a fair few cases, but for the most part, on a “rank for it paid against ranking for it organically” comparison basis, organic traffic will always bring you more customers. Sure, one could argue that those leads might not be quite as well qualified if they don’t have the level of filtering that PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising applied to them, but if you qualify well via the keywords you choose to target then the mountain of traffic it can bring will make its value felt pretty quickly.

It’s not super hard to maintain results once you’re there

Organic rankings tend to stick for a raft of reasons. You definitely can’t sit on your laurels once you’ve achieved a ranking, especially if you’re in an industry where it’s likely that your competitors are also optimising on a regular basis, but in a general sense, so long as you keep an eye on rankings and keep all of your methodology above board, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll slip off the front page quickly. Usually, you’ll see it starting to happen with enough time for you to take action, whether that’s with new content via a blog, a refreshing of the content on the static page on your site that targets that keyword, a little bit of link acquisition, or a range of other possible activities.

So there you have a few answers to the questions you might have around “How much is SEO worth?”. We hope you’ve learnt a little something. As always please feel free to leave a comment below if you’d like to add anything and if you’d like us to elaborate and explore your options around SEO in Brisbane and beyond then please feel free to get in touch!